Olympic Park Pic: Olympic Park
A new multi-million pound cultural hub will be built in the Olympic Park bringing jobs for thousands in east London, it was revealed on Wednesday.
The Victoria & Albert Museum and University College London will build the project, which is called ‘Olympicopolis’.
It is hoped by London Legacy that the project will deliver 10,000 jobs to the East End and inject billions of pounds into the economy.
The news comes in the wake of last month’s announcement that 6,800 homes, including 1,500 affordable housing units, will be built across the park in five new housing villages.
Mayor Boris Johnson said: “We want to use Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as a catalyst for the industries and technologies in which London now leads the world in order to create thousands of new jobs.”
The development will be built on the River Lea waterfront, between the Stadium and Stratford station.
Proposals for the University College London building include a new centre for culture and heritage, a design school, a biotech hub and an educational technology centre.
The V&A plans to move parts of its permanent collection to the new building, along with a showcase for temporary and touring exhibitions, and a centre for research and design.
Martin Roth, the director of the V&A, said: “East London is already a thriving centre for the creative industries and we are excited by the prospect of a V&A presence there.”
Professor Stephen Caddick, who leads the project for University College London, said that the development has the potential to bring the university closer to the local community.
Caddick said: “As soon as we can we will be exploring options to work with the local community to offer cultural and business opportunities for resident, with the aim of improving quality of life and the economic prospects of the area for the long term.”
The announcement comes after a recent report from the olympic and Paralympic select committee report, which called upon the Mayor to take control of east London’s long term Olympic regeneration. The report followed a July study by research and analysis group SQW that claimed that there had been a major shortfall in Olympic legacy jobs for local people.
The project’s name was inspired by the achievements of Prince Albert, who used the proceeds of the 1851 Great Exhibition to create ‘Albertopolis,’ the 86-acre site around Exhibition Road in South Kensington that is now considered one of the world’s major cultural hubs.
